Beyonce was named the most searched for celebrity of the year by Microsoft search engine Bing, battling off competition from Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus and Kate Middleton to be bestowed with the honour. 2013 may not have seen Beyonce release a new album, but it was her year from the start, thanks to her performance at the January inauguration of President Barack Obama as he began his second term as president.

Beyonce
Beyonce stormed to the top of the poll

A collaboration with Pepsi, which also saw the release of her single 'Grown Woman,' and a performance at the Super Bowl Half-Time Show watched by millions put her stock even higher, with her ongoing 'The Mrs. Carter Show' world tour keeping her name on peoples lips, and in their search engines, for much of the year, much to the chagrin of 2012's most searched for celebrity, Kim Kardashian.

She may have given bith to her first child, North West, and been on the receiving end of one of the most elaborate proposals of all time, but Kim K just wasn't popular enough to regain her spot as the most popular celebrity among Bing users this year. Of course, Bing isn't just used for finding out about celebrities and their various deeds and misdeeds, as the results for the most searched for terms go on to state.

Kim Kardashian
Maybe Kim is more popular with Yahoo users?

Next page: the top non-celebrity searches